Complex Community Interactions

• flooding is most common cause of disturbance in surface water ecosystems
• resistance -> ability to withstand disturbance
• resilience -> ability to recover from disturbance
• primary succession -> all organisms removed from habitat or a new habitat is formed
• secondary succession -> disturbances remove some species and reduces populations
• keystone species: a species that is essential to the functioning of an ecosystem
• exotic ->species located outside their natural range
• invasive exotic -> species that proliferate and cause damage in new habitats